A Simple Expression of Love
by Mark of the Asphodel
Summary: Cain has three days to make the arrangements to ensure his wife's homecoming is a memorable one.  Too bad he hasn't the faintest idea where to begin.  Written for the Shin Kink Meme on LJ.  Cain/Catria with a few other pairings in the background.


**A Simple Expression of Love**

I do not own _Fire Emblem_ or any of its characters.

Written in response to the Archanea Shin Kink Meme on LJ. Nothing too racy follows... a few bad words, some allusions to cosplay and food-play. What naughtiness there is involves het relationships with a focus on married couples. I figured I might as well own up to writing this, though, given that it already sounds like sex-themed outtakes from "Another Piece of Blue."

**Prompt:**

_Cain/Catria_

_One of them has been gone for a longer than expected period of time and the other has prepared something special for that character's return. Doesn't necessarily need to be terribly kinky. I'm looking more for sweet and romantic._

**Part One: Cecil's Sexy Underthings**

Three days. That was the window of time left to Cain in which he might find a suitable gift for his wife- and that was assuming Catria didn't return from Macedon early. Her sabbatical ended on the first of the month, so there was a chance that she'd be back a day before so as to be ready for duty. Still, Cain thought that Catria would be reluctant to cut short her time with her sister and young nephew. Realistically, he had but three days to get her… something.

As to what that something ought to be, Cain didn't rightly know. The two-month sabbatical was the longest he and Catria had been separated during their marriage, so a simple arrangement of flowers or a box of sugared nuts didn't seem appropriate. A new gown? Catria preferred practical things. Something for their apartment- a painting or a tapestry? They wouldn't often be lazing around their rooms enjoying the decorations. A book of poems? No, Catria wasn't the type.

How in the world did he express something like "I love you and I've missed you and sparring matches at dawn just aren't the same without you?" A pity it would be considered bad luck to buy his wife a new blade for their matches… Catria would at least get some use out of it.

Out of ideas (and feeling rather peeved about it), Cain decided to consult with his peers about how best to greet one's beloved home after so long an absence. Not that he had a great variety of minds to consult. Ryan was too young to ask for romantic advice, and Frey was too private a man for Cain to even consider asking him. Cain considered his options and went looking for Rody. Once he'd found the junior knight in the training yard, Cain didn't waste much time getting to his point.

"When Cecil's been away on a mission, do you do anything special for her when she returns?"

Rody's eyebrows shot upward.

"Well, I buy her a gift," he said.

"What sort of gift? Flowers? Sweets? Things for the kitchen?"

"Ah, no." It seemed to Cain that Rody's face, normally a model of composure, turned decidedly pink. "Something a little more… personal."

"Like what? Perfume?" Cain couldn't imagine Dame Cecil of Altea wearing perfume, unless there was a perfume that smelled of leather and mineral oil.

"Un-undergarments," Rody choked out, and the young paladin flushed to the roots of his hair.

"Undergarments," Cain repeated. "Not… woolen undergarments?"

"No! They're… frilly. With straps. And… and buckles."

Cain was silent for a moment as the image of Dame Cecil so outfitted sank in.

"I don't think that would work." He could't imagine how Catria would even fit something like that under her uniform tunic.

**Part Two: Cosplay is Canon**

Cain had wasted a day, and now but two days remained to make Catria's homecoming a memorable one. He was pondering this issue all through a meeting that was supposed to be a review of proposed changes to the knight-cadet curriculum.

"So you're saying that the primer on battle magic needs to be introduced earlier, immediately after the introduction to healing?"

"Yes, sire. The earlier we eliminate misconceptions about the uses and limitations of magic, the better."

Maybe he should go bother Rody again and find out where one acquired these… undergarments. He still didn't know what Catria would do with them, exactly- wear them around the apartment? Wear them to bed? Catria usually slept-

"And after the executions, I think we'll assign some of the student mages from the Academy to dispose of the corpses. They can practice their fire spells."

"I beg your pardon, sire?" Executions? Corpses? What in the world had he missed while daydreaming?

"I didn't think you were paying attention," said the king, though he didn't seem terribly annoyed. He regarded Cain with a look that could, in truth, be called amused. "I know it's not easy to have someone you care for so far away, but it's not like you to sit with your head in the clouds."

"May I explain myself to you, sire?"

"I don't see why not." Marth leaned back in his chair, his keen blue eyes focused on Cain. "What troubles you so?"

Cain laid out the dilemma to his king as though it were a strategy briefing- problem, possible solutions, obstacles and unintended consequences of said solutions. And Marth- who, as he'd admitted, knew entirely too much about being obliged to spend time far from home and loved ones- threw in a possibility that Cain hadn't considered.

"Take the day off and go for a ride in the country."

"In the country? Here?"

"Yes. You and Catria should spend the day by yourselves in the countryside, enjoying all its simple pleasures."

"Simple pleasures?"

"Simple pleasures," Marth repeated. "Green meadows, riverbanks carpeted in flowers, strategically placed bales of hay…"

"We both see a lot of the countryside, sire. It's very pretty…"

"Cain, do you remember the shepherdess outfit the queen wore at the May festival last year?"

"Yes."

"It's been useful. Very useful."

"For attracting _sheep_, sire?" Cain felt vaguely unclean now.

"No! For… play. In the country."

"Behind a bale of hay." Cain felt uncomfortably warm, though he was very glad that the livestock only came into things as… set dressing.

"Exactly."

"I'll… think on it, sire. Thank you."

Cain did think the advice over, and in the end it made sense enough that his sovereigns- people who had the finest of everything available at their disposal- would find some pleasure in the idea of dressing up as peasants and having a literal roll in the hay. The freedom of country lads and lasses would no doubt be very appealing to people who never had a moment to themselves otherwise. That wasn't really the gift Cain needed for Catria, though. If she wanted to frolic in the countryside, watched only by the eyes of dumb animals, she could have stayed in Macedon. And that was not the message Cain intended to send.

**Part Three: Unjust Desserts**

"Maybe I should just buy her some jewelry," Cain muttered to himself as the third day slipped away from him. Catria didn't wear jewels, but…

He was so agitated over Catria's imminent arrival, and so desperate for romantic advice, that he agreed to go drinking with Sir Astram. The Archanean knight was, after all, enamored of his wife Midia in ways that bordered on… shameless.

"I can't wait to see my little sugarplum again," said Astram as he tossed back his fifth cup of wine. "I'm going to pick her up and spin her around in the air until the both of us are dizzy."

That didn't sound pleasant at all.

"And then what?"

"Then I'm going to dust the tips of her breasts with sugar, drizzle them with raspberry sauce, and lick them until her nipples are as hard as my cock."

Cain was exceedingly glad he was in-between cups, or Astram's comment would likely have caused him to spit wine all over the bar. At least the other man had the excuse of being drunk. Astram's intoxicated musings upon the sweet and delectable nature of his wife were somehow easier to take in than was his sovereign's cold sober recommendation to fuck Catria's brains out in the middle of some field.

Or the idea of Cecil and her special undergarments. He still could't get that image out of his head.

Then again, Cain knew Astram and Midia's little perversions. Dear gods above, he knew. They usually brought food into it in some manner, and everyone in the Archanean League had figured it out within two weeks of Astram joining their party. Peeled grapes. Sweet cream cheese. Honey. And any kind of red fruit they could scavenge.

Maybe he should just make Catria dinner. A nice, romantic dinner. Rice with shrimp and scallops, and some fresh asparagus, and a far better wine than the stuff he was drinking in Astram's company. And dessert. Catria didn't like sweet desserts, though. Powdered sugar and raspberry sauce were NOT coming into things.

**Part Four: Coffee, Tea, or Me?**

It was nearing sundown on the final day of the month, and Cain was pressed up against the door of his apartment. He'd asked for Ryan to give a signal when Catria's dragon came in to roost, and the young archer had sounded the alarm ten minutes before. Cain hoped his wife wouldn't be upset that he hadn't been waiting outside for her, but Catria knew how busy he always was.

Besides, he'd taken a great deal of trouble with dinner.

He could sense Catria clear through the door, and wasn't the least surprised to hear the click of her key in the lock. Cain stepped backward to avoid being struck by the door as she pushed it in.

"Cain? I'm home."

"I'm right here, love."

She stood there in the doorway, one hand fumbling with her key, the other clutching her traveling-bag. She set the bag down upon the floor- slowly, without ever taking her eyes off him.

"Where are your clothes?"

"I wanted to surprise you."

"It worked."

Dear lords, she was beautiful. Especially like this, with her short hair mussed by the wind and her face touched by the southern sun. Her eyes looked like sapphires… and they were dancing with laughter.

"And I made dinner," he added. He hoped she wasn't laughing _at him_. She had the cutest quizzical expression, making little shapes with her mouth as she nodded at him. Still, she wasn't making any move to embrace him. Cain heard a plaintive note in his own voice as he said, "I'm glad to see you."

"I can tell," she replied, and the corners of her mouth quirked upward as she studied his private regions. "Very nice. You must have been working out twice as often while I was away."

"Life was very dull." Aside from the uprising of religious fanatics in the north, but even those incidents weren't very exciting. More of a nuisance, really. And quelling insurrections just seemed a little easier when he had Catria at his side.

She gave way to laughter then and flung herself at him, kissing his face, grasping him around the waist… squeezing where the seat of his pants would have been if he weren't standing there stark naked.

"Mm, you've definitely been working overtime in the field," she said as her fingers skipped one at a time along his skin. "And in the kitchen- that really smells good. I haven't eaten since morning…"

"Dinner can be reheated," he offered. Well, not an offer. He was going to stand firm on this one.

"Can it?" At last she brought her mouth to his in a slow, deep kiss that finished with a nibble of his upper lip. "Well, then. I must say you've thought of everything."

"I certainly did." And he'd concluded that he didn't need to give Catria exotic knickers or a bath in raspberry sauce. He did hope she would like what he'd done with the bedroom. It had taken the squires all morning to re-carpet the floor in squares of flower-studded sod.

**The End**


End file.
